"Detroit is a dumpster fire, but it is a smaller dumpster fire." "Baltimore is trying REAL HARD to be the worst city in the country." Geography King tells it like it is and pulls no punches.
Hipsters are just today's Yuppies (albeit with less $$... lol)! They both define themselves by what they 'consume', though with the Hipsters, "You've probably never heard of it before...".
Funnily enough, "hippie" was originally used in the mid-1960s as a derogatory term for people trying to be hipsters ("They're not proper hipsters, just hippies").
In Phoenix I witnessed an evil version of gentrification. The city government was buying up homes just south of the trendy downtown area. To “encourage” people to sell (at cheap prices, of course), they did things like redirect airport traffic directly over the neighborhood, provide reduced services, etc. Also, there’s the issue of all your neighbors being turned into empty gravel lots. The purpose of all this was for the city to eventually sell the land to politically connected developers.
@@foxopossum Yeah, sounds like a lot of big cities, just like here in Columbus! The local politicians make sweet ❤️ deals for developers, then they kick back 💵 to their coffers & also happens in reverse! Rich elites bastard just kept getting richer or more powerfful!
Downtown Detroit has seen a big comeback largely due to the financial industry, particularly the family of companies associated with Quicken. They also own large parts of Cleveland and have been driving improvements in both cities to make them more attractive.
Look at Oakland, CA. Things have changed so much in the last 40 years and pushed out many of the people who used to live there. Now the poor have to move out to east county such as Antioch or Stockton.
@SLAMO wow yeah crazy those people probably never thought about it that way. Maybe they should also just choose to have six figure salaries since it’s so black and white
Denver has an epicenter of this. Marketplace has done a few stories on Sunnyside. Many Latinos have been displaced and they’ve moved out to suburbs. A real disappointment about the turnover in the city is that so much of the old architecture has been bulldozed to make way for unsightly box condos.
Poor white people weren't all forced to be clustered into a neighborhood directly adjacent to downtown. They were allowed to be scattered throughout the suburbs. And when displaced, they can go anywhere. It's not at all the same for all races.
As a Charleston native, I appreciate you mentioning my "city." Many people know it as the Holy City for the steeples that dot the skyline. No building on the peninsula can be taller than the highest church steeple. You mentioned the problem with room on the peninsula. It's a funny thing, really. Because it seems there is room for about three more hotels. I think they are the only ones who can afford that prime real estate. I could go on and on about how the price of housing has increased in the area, and its reach from the Holy City is now felt in the most rural areas, like Hollywood for example. North Charleston, too (take a look at the increased cost of housing in Park Circle for example). I hate to be one of those people screaming for Northerners to stop moving here, but I can't help it. Wages have always been much lower in the South. For NYC wages, you can get more bang for your buck here in Charleston. Yet, as more money comes in, the wages in Charleston haven't changed much at all in the past decade. What was once a decent wage here is poverty. The pace of life was always a bit slower in the Lowcountry. It suited the people who made the Lowcountry what it is. Farmers, blue collar workers, teachers, etc. could afford a nice home, live a nice life. Nohing fancy, just enough. Today, not so much. Our teachers are all quitting because of large classrooms and meager wages. Salaries haven't adjusted to the crazy cost of housing. Where the hell is all this new money in Charleston going? Sure not the roads because they are exactly the same as they were more than 15 years ago. Definitely not the ghetto schools. Who knows? Probably tourism since we keep winning these damn awards. Also, keep in mind that history and culture is one of our city's most unique features. The soul food, the Gullah/Geechee culture, small mom n pop shops, family-owned restaurants, etc. If Charleston keeps it up, it will all be gone soon. I wish more people knew that the beautiful place they know today, was not a byproduct of prospering people. Aside from the few elite. We've always had rich places like Kiawah, the battery, etc. But most of Charleton wasn't rich. At this point, nowhere to grow but the ghettos and back country I suppose. And it's getting expensive. Peoplee ou there charging $30+ for some shrimp and grits with collards... 🤔 That ain't right. Somebody will probably tell me to leave if it upsets me so much. But it's my home. My family has deep roots here. My grandfather was a farmer, as was his father, etc. My great grandfather couldn't read, and I was the first in my family to earn a college degree. I'm also a writer :,) So, for people like me, it's very heartbreaking. I thought I would come back home to the Lowcountry, buy a nice home, and take care of my parents in old age. In true Southern fashion. If Charleston hadn't gotten "too big for it's own britches," that would have been entirely within reach. Sorry for the sob story. I love my home, but it isnt the same. It also makes me so sad how few people care about how the new shiny Charleston came to be in the first place. Thank you if you made it to the end of this.
Thanks for the comment. It's nice to hear the perspective from a Charleston native. My wife is from Lexington and from about 1999 to 2015 we went to Charleston about once or twice a year. But then we didn't go back until September 2019. It wasn't just that it had changed, but how quickly. Chattanooga's situation is a little different but it does also seem to be trending toward being a city of tourists and hipsters. Savannah is in the same boat, just not as dramatic as Charleston. However I was glad to see that Dave's Seafood is still a great hole in the wall!
I visited Kiawah this year for summer vacation. While it was nice and I guess "rich", I was expecting downtown Charleston to be kind of like Des Moines, where I live. Where it's kind of popular, but not overwhelmingly enough to drive up costs and create a bunch of traffic (which Charleston has a lot of). Boy was I wrong, it was so overwhelming. People are flooded everywhere. I expected it to be somewhat packed around the major attractions of Charleston, but not on every street. The current life style doesn't seem to match the city itself. I feel like I would have enjoyed Columbia more, or Hilton Head Island.
It's true that Urban Renewal was called "Negro Removal" but that's because Urban Renewal was usually about razing entire neighborhoods, building urban highways, tearing down rowhouses and apartment buildings and building less housing to replace them with public housing towers. Gentrification and Urban Renewal are pretty different things. I would say Atlanta's biggest problem, similar to Detroit, is it's land use. Have you ever seen the map Streetsblog made comparing Atlanta to Barcelona? Atlanta apparently has as many miles of rail as Barcelona, but whereas like 80 or 90% of Barcelonans live within a few blocks of a rail line, in Atlanta it's like 1% of the population. Look at all the land taken up by highways and parking in those photos! You could build a lot of nice neighborhoods on that land!
As someone who drove regularly from Detroit to 20 miles south of Atlanta, I can tell you that the County planning FAILED to put MORE freeways around Atlanta. You have leave home 3 hours early to make sure you get to work on time. Did they ever finish construction on the west side of I 285? I grew up in L.A. so I know traffic. But Atlanta is something else…
@@samiam619 then don't work in the city. Not fair to shove black people out of their homes for your convenience cause you dont want to sit in traffic got 3 hours! 🤡
I was born in New York when gentrification really began in the 90s, and Rudy Giuliani “cleaned up” most of Manhattan that was littered with crime in the 70s and 80s. It did great for the city but then it started to spread Brooklyn and New Jersey and everywhere else in and around the city and it became very expensive to live here. Many people I know moved out as everything got too expensive, and I can’t really blame them. I never left though because I love it here, but it does suck having to pay so much rent for a tiny apartment
Also a New Yorker. I think what the "geography king" is missing here is that while the specific act of redeveloping an unoccupied, decaying building may not displace poorer residents, it's really the knock-on effect that displaces them. And that knock-on effect is predictable and therefore can be said to be intentional. This has especially happened in Queens and Brooklyn over the last decade. In Queens it was intentional - the zoning standards were changed so that you could build high rises and Long Island City, being just a few stops from Times Square, was very obviously going to be impacted. More importantly: Who are these redeveloped neighborhoods better for? Are they better for long-time residents who won't shop at the new mocha cafe, can't get a job at the new tech start up in the neighborhood, and can no longer afford their rent, which the landlord is deliberately raising to get them out of there? Clearly not. Sure, you can look at the neighborhood from a bird's eye perspective and say, this looks really nice now, and I - who have never visited this neighborhood - will now do so. But the residents won't say that because they've always lived there. THAT is the problem with gentrification: It favors policies beneficial to non-residents over those that would be beneficial to residents. The people that are supposed to be serving the ones who voted them into office are instead serving their adversaries. And this video is like Exhibit A.
@@babbaganush9659 As a born and bred New Yorker I mostly agree with you, however NYC doesn't really play into the standard storyline of gentrification. NYC as a whole has changed every couple of decades to the point where each generation would have trouble recognizing its past. Many neighborhoods evolved over the years changing the demographics entirely. Ethnicities have changed, as did income. Before WWII home ownership was unaffordable for the masses even in brooklyn. Overall I'm not arguing the merits (or the lack thereof) of gentrification, just trying to indicate that NYC is cyclical, thus a poor analogy of the typical national gentrification.
Thank you for the honest take on Detroit. I am from there originally and moved out the beginning of this year. Growing up there was absolutely horrible and depressing, but literally everyone there gets super defensive about it and lives in this state of cognitive dissonance about it. I have wanted to leave for most of my life, but wasn't sure if it was a "grass is always greener" situation because most other people will defend it saying it's "the best city in the world". Honest commentary helped me gain confidence to leave. Thanks, Geography King.
I recommend the book "Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America" by Allan Mallach. It focuses on economic polarization in US cities -> more wealthy and more poor people with a shrinking middle class - featuring some of the cities in this video with discussions on gentrification and the trends involved in the situation. Overall Mallach argues gentrification is less negative than the media portrays and that the real issue is the DECLINE of most neighborhoods -> many of the factors involved are unfortunately out of a city's control and are often intentionally worsened by our politicians.
Again, another great video to watch a few more times. I was so happy to hear about the rebirth of Detroit, a city that has had such a bad rep for years. And renovating old factories and vacant building is genius - and nobody gets displaced, to boot! The same for Pittsburgh, which was known for steel and horrendous pollution. Now the city is a centerpiece for the 3 river confluence...a place I want to visit...(plus its only about an hour from Gobblers Notch, home to world famous Punksutawney Phil - life doesn't get much better than that)! Thank you , Kyle!
@@andrewmccoll1582 and there in lies the problem. Terrible leadership that doesn't plan for good expansion and light rail or high speed mag-lev for transportation across large metro areas. You can't allow shit to get so expensive that people have to commute an hour one way just to get to their workplace and not give the heavily taxed population a fast and effective way of transportation.
Been happening since the 80's. Most people are stunned when I tell them that South Congress Ave just south of Downtown was once a center of drugs and prostitution (the motel that is now Hotel San Jose used to be a rent by the hour place).
I'd like to preface this comment by saying I'm not a hipster. Hipsters, and others similar, circulate their money instead of stashing it away. They're often ethical consumers, and frequent local rather than chain stores and outlets. They're the ones who'll cycle to work instead of driving, support local arts, and get involved with "causes". I rather appreciate that someone's making an effort.
I am somewhat of a hipster, and while agree, it can be a bit facadist, people wanting a 'black' friend, but not too 'ghetto-y'. Sometimes, civic activism can run into nimbyism.
@@Blakezilla594 humans are gonna human, whether they are hipsters, boomers, vegans or conservatives. All like to pretend they are better than others, all can be terrible hypocrites, and all can be guilty of all the vices they attribute to 'the others'.
I loved the video. I'm glad that you talked about a wide variety of cities. Gentrification truly is a mixed bag. I used to the in the DC area where gentrification has gotten completely out of control and actually made certain neighborhoods less interesting as only chain businesses can afford to the rent. Now I live in Norfolk, VA where gentrification has started about 20 years ago and is moving much slower. I stayed at an Air Bnb on Cannon Street in Charlestown and what struck me about the area north of Spring Street is that it still looks pretty shabby. All they did was raise the rents. There are some trendy restaurants and bars but there are still plenty of empty storefronts on King Street. Is this the yuppie ghetto?
Charleston certainly hasn't improved by the same amount the costs have gone up. It's pretty much the same, just twice as expensive. I'm not as familiar with DC but I've heard others echo what you're saying.
Kyle. Good video. I have lived in metro Detroit for about 30 years now, and visited the city often while growing up in mid Michigan in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s. When I moved there for good, I liked to hang out downtown. You could have a good time there, but had to know where to go and where to avoid. After the new baseball and football stadiums were built in the northeast corner of downtown right across Brush St from each other, things started to move forward at a slow but steady pace. That part of downtown had nothing there except the Detroit School of Law, which is now part of Michigan State University in East Lansing. But that area started to populate with restaurants and bars. Within 10 years or so. That would put us in the late 2000’s, that corner of downtown had become pretty lively. Then during the next ten years the prosperity spread out to Woodward Avenue and the boarded up storefronts that had been a part of the main drag of Detroit since the early 70’s just disappeared. There was a small business for virtually every storefront on Woodward from Jefferson Ave to Grand Blvd. Then in the last couple of years the “ rectangle” created by East Grand Blvd and West Grand Blvd , has seen many neighborhoods within this oldest part of the city improve and the values go up. While this renewal is as you say, not huge compared to other cities, for Detroit after decades of decay it is a big deal. The city center has improved greatly. However many of the neighborhoods outside this rectangle area remain pretty rough. I enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the comment. It has definitely been a slow improvement but as someone that has visited almost every year since 1998 it's nice to see that it isn't as awful as it was 20 year ago. There's still a ways to go but it does look encouraging.
I so agree with you. Charleston used to be my favorite city. Now, when I think about going there all I have to do to squash that idea is think about the traffic and how a city that used to have something for everyone is now full of people rushing to get across town or frustrated because of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on I-26. The every man's city has now become the upscale city and I'm not so fond of it anymore. We've seen changes here in Columbia also. I know you went to USC but to us locals USC has been both a blessing and a pain. Downtown is dominated by USC - a new baseball stadium by the river, the Vista area has joined 5 points as a place for students to party, student housing has exploded and they've taken over the Olympia area for student housing. Rosewood has held it's on but seems to be losing ground. USC has beautified these areas but prices have gone through the roof in all areas and like you say - income has not. I live across the river near Lexington and am watching USC's land grab as I see it, as it progresses (with taxpayer money) my way. They have now gone into the commercial/investment property area as a way to make more money to buy and build more things. My children can't and probably never will be able to afford to live in my neighborhood and it's not some gated upscale area - far from it. I'm just waiting for the prices to go even higher or the time is right for a move and then I'll sell and move permanently to our new farm which for now is country but I fear will end up on the outskirts of where Columbia is moving - out toward Aiken County. I'm thinking our growth is like you describe Atlanta - not really doing much to improve things just moving "regular folks" out to make room for wealthier folks. Say, have you done a video on how the culture of areas change as people with different values and interests move in and change things? Less local influence, more national chains and losing the historical ways/customs of an area. Maybe that's to much for a video but if you ever write a book, I'd buy it! ~Sherrie in South Carolina
The last time I was in Columbia I was surprised that so many of what were bars and restaurants in 5 Points were now stores and how much more student-oriented the Vista was. I lived in Shandon while there but I doubt we could afford the same place now. It's a pretty similar story nationwide but Charleston is definitely one of the worst.
@Thomas Willoughby I have no intention of moving anywhere. I realize change happens or you get left behind. I also know a sadness that the small town southern uniqueness I grew up with is slowly going away. How to find a middle ground I haven't found. All I'm saying is that moving forward, does it have to mean leaving behind what made your city unique and attractive to investors to start with? Will one day all of our cities in all of our states look and "feel" just alike? I hope not.
I grew up in San Francisco. You left out how during the tech boom, developers bought up all the old factories, closed them down throwing 10s of thousands of families out in the street and replaced them with multi-million dollar condos. All those high paying union jobs are gone now, replaced with minimum wage jobs at starbucks...
He also left out how leftists have declared shoplifting to be legal in San Francisco, essentially asking businesses to close and leave, taking those jobs with them.
So, you're blaming condo developers for shutting down old factories? No - the unions themselves demanded such high wages that they priced American goods in excess of foreign manufacturers. THAT's why the factories shut down. Don't believe me? Look at every city in the rust belt. I don't see any high priced condos in Detroit, Pittsburgh or Cleveland.
It's about class. I'm white. I grew up in what was then a lower-middle class part of Boston. In 1975, my mother sold our 2 family for $36k. Recently, a 2 family on the same street was listed at $1.1 million. If you took $1m off the price, it would still be 3X what my mother sold hers for. Starting in the 1980s, my own city was never affordable, due to me making a mere middle class salary. Yet this is exactly what used to afford you an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood. No more.
Great video, Kyle! Appreciate the time and effort you put into videos like this. I didn't realize Atlanta homes 1,250 sq ft. and smaller were $600,000 plus NO THANKS lol
Not everywhere in Atlanta is that expensive. You can still get a pretty nice house in the suburbs for $300,000 but closer to town will cost you over $400,000 and a lot more for historic areas, wealthy neighborhoods, and downtown condos.
I hear you about San Francisco. The Tenderloin seems to be the same as it was 32 years ago except rent went up and every parking lot has been converted to 10 to 12 story high condo's. I was paying $480 a month for a studio apartment that now rents for $ 3,012 a month. Along with Google we have Twitter HQ at mid Market street from 9th to 10th street.
It seems like there could be a positive net sum solution. In many of these cities, there are building restrictions, which drive up the price. People need to decide if they like affordable housing or a nice view of the ocean.
Being Canadian, we do our frequent "travelling" in the US, and I've been fortunate to visit every city on your list. I've definitely seen the improvements in many of them over the years. The only one I haven't spent much time in is your current hometown, but we are frequently in Tennessee both as a destination (Pigeon Forge/Smoky Mountains) and as a pass through on our way to Florida in the winter. On our next trip down I-75 we will have to make a stop for a day in Chattanooga, the pictures look very nice (last time we stopped in Atlanta for a day to check out the Coca Cola museum, I think that area looked "gentrified" as I think it was the former Olympic village). Detroit still has a lot of work cut out for it as you said, but for the first time, I actually stopped in Greektown to check it out. Normally we would lock our doors, don't stop, and drive on through to elsewhere. I never saw Pittsburgh before it gentrified, but I have to say, if I could pick a city to live in in the US, it would be at or near the top of my list. I like the character of the downtown, and even the suburbs look nice with the hilly topography, and I always feel safe. We are often in Pittsburgh since it is only a 5-6 hour drive from where we live. Just waiting for the borders to open back up so we can get back to exploring your fantastic country!
@@micah_lee I've been to Charlotte a few times, but very briefly. I was debating visiting for a week last year but we ended up not going because of the pandemic. I hear there is a pretty good science center for the kids and I've always wanted to visit Carowinds as it is a sister park of Canada's Wonderland in Toronto. Both were owned by Paramount, now both are owned by Cedar Fair, they have some identical roller coasters so it would be kind of neat to experience the same thing in a completely different place.
Next time you’re passing through, and after this Covid situation is hopefully past us, be sure and stop by our Visitors Center near the aquarium, we’ll be glad to show you all about our nice little city!
You mentioned that Atlanta has always had a vibrant downtown. I'm not sure that's accurate. For years it would be a ghost town after the 9-5 office workers left for the day. It has become a little more vibrant, but nothing like Midtown or Buckhead.
In general Gentrification brings wealth to the poorer areas because it raises property prices. It does gradually push out the poor but if they were homeowners when values went up they could sell for more money and buy in cheaper areas, or stay. Just an add it also brings new services or improved services, and reduces crime.
Not true. Investors are usually considered "robbers" for the extremely underpriced offers they make. That's not wealth. If you sell your home for say 50k, you now need to use that for a down payment, or will get an apartment or something and just spend the money. Where is the wealth being built besides for the investor that already has it?
@@elreytriton The wealth is built when you sell at a profit or hold while your net worth goes up. The whole game of real estate is to buy where the values are rising, so your home becomes an investment. The notion of investors being robbers is untrue. Selling agents make money on commission, so they typically try to get the highest sale price for their clients. Anyone selling below market value is not playing the game properly.
@@Da_Benski Investors arent going to realtors. Poor ppl arent going to realtors. Real investors get their RE license and are therefore realtors already. Investors are using programs to slam the poor with mail and calls to get them to take lowball offers. No realtors are involved. They make their own contracts and get the seller to use a quitclaim deed. Entire parts of certain cities have been changed with this method. For the last decade i've seen these guys selling their programs for it. I know flippers. I literally just let my RE license expire during covid because i changed cities. they're trying to get those houses asap. They dont want to pay commission nor get appraisals
@@elreytriton Dude, stop it with the BlueAnon conspiracy theories. A real estate sale involves a Seller, Buyer, and agents/lawyers for both the seller and buyer. The seller's agent and lawyer aren't going to allow their client to sell their home for a pittance, so please stop scaremongering people. You don't know what you're talking about, so have a coke and a smile and stop embarrassing yourself.
@@Da_Benski clearly you're the noob here. Every state does NOT require lawyers for transactions. Only 21 out of 50 do. You've already lost this. I'll just delete the paragraph i had proving you even more wrong. You dont even know how things work outside of your one state or youtube video you watched.
This same thing has been happening in Cleveland, and I'd say that its been a very positive thing. A lot of the West Side and especially the flats have been transformed from poor, dangerous urban ghetto to nice neighborhoods to walk around in.
@@bigbillybadass Because some of these neighborhoods were so bad there were not many residences left. Cleveland lost about 60% of its population between 1960 and 2000. Downtown was almost completely empty of residences. Down town redevelopment is almost entirely new construction or office conversions. And while there are quite a few new expensive buildings, in general rents are very affordable compared to most cities. I'm really impressed by the transformation in the last 20 years. However there are still many areas of the city that are very poor with high crime rates and many abandoned buildings and empty lots. And the city is one of the most racially segregated in the country which makes improving the general condition more difficult than it should be.
Great video! Ive been in Baltimore since 2014. I definitely have a lot of love for the city. What strikes me is that a lot of the growth is happening in Harbor East/Fells, Canton, Fed Hill/Locust Point, basically seems like they gave up on the downtown and want to start a new "gentrified" cultural downtown elsewhere. Surrounding Baltimore and Howard Counties have some of the most affluent zip codes in America. There's a lot of money to be made, just many live outside. The people who do live here are young professionals or those affiliated with Maryland and Johns Hopkins. I think the history of red lining and the unique Baltimore City/County structure have made it difficult for people to develop and to subsequently get money for these communities. The segregation is pretty stark. It's worth looking into the black butterfly and white L and it's history. North Baltimore and Roland park into Towson feels nothing like "The Wire" east and west side Baltimore.
It's a two edged sword. I've personally benefited from gentrification by buying homes in areas that I thought were undervalued. I looked for zip codes with low property values that are adjacent to hip zip codes. I buy a house, fox it up and a few years later. There is risk involved. I almost lost everything after the 2008 crash, but hung on until the market recovered, made enough money from that last sale to pay cash for a nice condo. The problem is that people who are renters get displaced when the property values go up, and the rents follow. But there are always deals out there if you know where to look and can put in the sweat equity. I have come to realize that owning a home is probably cheaper in the long run than paying rent. But the goal should be to have your mortgage paid off. Once you own it free and clear, it's liberating financially.
Lived in Charleston (James Island) for 6-7 years in the mid-2000's till late 2012 and witnessed the change firsthand. Definitely catering to the higher-end now and I think losing a bit of the old authentic Charleston in exchange for an expensive caricature of itself.
Odd thing about California is that we really don't have any slums. We do have poor and very poor areas but no slums. I remember seeing my first slum in Chicago taking the L out to Oak Park. We passed over the slums west of Chicago. Burned out buildings. Homes with broken window and doors. I remember the slums just north of downtown Cincinnati. Abandoned buildings. Homes and small storefronts with broken doors and windows, trash everywhere. While California does have poor areas and very poor areas, the chronic housing problem for the last 50-100 years means that all property in both the LA and the SF metro areas is kept up to a minimally habitable condition so it can be rented. In the greater metro areas I suspect there is almost no property on the rolls that can be purchased by paying the back taxes. I think this type of no owner property is a key ingredient in a slum.
he didnt get into the history here which is very important. California did not have massive government housing projects like the east coast and midwest.
Really glad that you addressed Wage Stagnation and how it's affecting the US. It's a huge problem everywhere you go. Either you move to the city where half of your income goes to rent, or you move to the sticks where no jobs are. Really hoping that Work From Home will be the new thing to do and it will stay, opens up a ton of opportunities not only for Middle Class Americans looking to buy a house in an affordable town, but for cities that have really decayed in the recent decades since the collapse of American Manufacturing to start attracting new people to come in and revitalize the city with new young people.
This is one of the best youtube videos ive ever seen. I wish u worked in govt in some capacity, you are more knowledgeable than the current HUD secretary.
Often neglected is when previously middle class areas become prohibitively expensive. This has happened all over the US, esp every community in coastal California. Homes that were $25K in the 1970’s are $2 million dollars, or more. Middle class people, regardless of their race, being replaced by the uber wealthy.
You're right about Huntsville. The growth of Redstone, NASA, UAL and the Feds have recently catapulted Huntsville to the most populous city in Alabama, overtaking Bham.
I lived in Huntsville from 2017-2018. Huntsville is an odd case, because it seems to be gentrifying "inward" toward downtown. The only exception I think would be the areas north of downtown, close to Alabama A&M, where the gentrification has happened outward, so to speak. What's it like in the city now? It seemed like the city was doing a good job of not displacing too many poor folks, but I'm afraid its inevitable down the road.
In Columbia SC where I live there's been significant gentrification in the center of downtown and the ghetto areas just east of the broad river. It's a small city so there isn't as much displacement in these areas and the most of the poorer areas still remain in the outskirts of the city (mainly in the western part of the city with the airport and the northeastern part of the city.) As for Charleston, James Island is a river island and really isn't close to the beach at all. I visited there to see a family member and the lack of a beach shocked me.
Charleston does have one feature that makes its gentrification work a bit better - they limit the rise in property taxes so that old homeowners aren't taxed out of their homes.
As a Charleston native who spends lots of time in Atlanta and Chattanooga I think gentrification is a good thing overall as it reduces crime and makes the city a lot better
From your talking about going “up” to Frisco (I know they hate that name!) I figure you for growing up in L.A. I was raised in Torrance. Now I’m in the forrest of n. Lower Michigan. Spent a lot of time picking up new Auto Parts from Warehouses around Detroit to take to warehouses in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Denver wherever mostly Chrysler and Ford needed parts. Very familiar with the wasteland of Warren Mi and 8 mile.
I paid $145,000 for my house 2 blocks from a metro station in Washington DC in 2016 , I’ve been offered $285,000 in 2019 . I don’t want to move , but my taxes keep going up !
After watching 10 or so of your videos, I am ready for Jeopardy🙂 Thanks for the content! Was just in Savannah, GA. Talk about gentrifying. Some of the real estate is reedickulous🙂
I use Worcester MA's Main South region as an example of gentrification done right. The city and Clark University worked WITH the residents to make things safer which raised home prices and brought people in automatically without displacement.
Hey Kyle did you mean to say that racism is worse today than 20 years ago or did I misunderstand you? I don't see how that can be true. Good video as always though.
I’ve been liking these videos but was definitely caught off guard by his comment about racism being worse than 20 years ago. I hope it was just a mistake because this is an absolutely insane statement. Just look at interracial marriage statistics for example. It went from like 5% in the 80’s to almost 20% today. Unfortunately there will always be racism to some degree from ignorant people but to say it’s worse today than in the past is a horrible take.
I live in a city in Texas south of Fort Worth about 30-35 mins. The city has a population at about 47,000 and our down town has gone through this too. And I see no problem with it, it’s cleaning up otherwise old and rundown areas and it’s really smart IMO👍🏼👍🏼🤷🏼♂️
As a former San Francisco resident who now lives in the East Bay, I can 100% confirm that San Francisco’s gentrification has 100% NOT made it a better city. It’s cultural identity has been stripped as artists of all types have made The inevitable exodus. Bookstores and music venues have been bulldozed to construct massive sterile condos. Long time residents, local businesses, and restaurants have absolutely no chance of being able to afford the astronomical costs of living and have been leaving/closing at a depressing rate. A delicious fat burrito for $4 is no longer a reasonable expectation (even in the mission district) - but hey if you want $15 organic avocado toast and $10 free trade asparagus flavored Coffee then you’re in the right town. But now with the pandemic in full swing, the tech-types are being told they can work from home permanently, and are fleeing to less expensive areas where they can still make their Silicon Valley wages. As a result all of these massive condo complexes that have been constructed in the last 10+ years are starting to go vacant - and a large portion of the new ones are struggling to get any first time residents at all. Give it 10 years, and San Francisco will be the new Detroit.
Really, after buying a Detroit home for $50k and put $50k into it, it’s value will still be $50k or less (probably less). I saw on Zillow a enormous Detroit home that at one time sold for $1.2 million. Now it has been on the market for 3.5 years asking price $275k. Zillow’s listing said the house will annually decrease in value by 2.5%.
Overall, an outstanding video and excellent analysis as always. Like many others, I initially questioned the racism is worse today than it was 20 years ago remark, which was not the primary focus of the video. When we drill down further, perhaps it is not out of line. After the first black president was reelected to a second term in 2012, the people who routinely denounce America as a racist nation and in some cases make a living off doing just that had a problem- so they had to go looking for it in places that it either didn't exist and invent it or blow small minor incidents out of proportion. I would argue that in 2013 is when things started to go downhill. The four groups of people that have stirred the pot of racial animosity to a dangerous level for their own benefit are 1) politicians (big surprise), 2) professors, 3) pundits on television and in print media, 4) performers (athletes, actors, musicians) who are basically doing the dirty work of the first three groups. The 4 P's.
Hello there I have been watching some of your videos these last few days since I discovered your channel... amazing and cool videos... I dont know if you have already made a video about what I am going to ask you. Are there any up and coming cities or towns that you suspect will begin to take off soon. I am looking to move from central New Jersey within the next few years... I am interested in middle class housing with nice weather... I am completely done with cold and snowy winters. Where I live I am paying 16k in property taxes... and no it is not a mansion, it is on a small plot of land. Thanks please let me know it you can think of a few cities. I was thinking like fort Lauderdale or west palm beach.. but hopefully you can send me some better and more affordable ideas.
i was a bit concerned while watching this video that you'd say something close-minded or disagreeable. I was positively surprised. Really good job explaining this and taking a look at it from both sides.
Kyle, as a fellow geographer, I’ve always appreciated your videos and highly regarded the research and detail you put into them. However, this one misses the mark. Badly. Several key concepts and aspects of gentrification are misconstrued, and the central thesis of your video that “gentrification is only bad when it displaces people” is very problematic and reductionist. Your Charleston and Detroit examples should have illuminated a vital concern with the phenomenon of gentrification: low-income (largely minority) populations are priced out of certain locations and are economically relegated to environmental justice areas with very poor access to jobs, public transit, and other key services. Moreover, to point to hipsters as the ones opening mocha latte shops, you’re missing a major element: these people are predominantly white entrepreneurs who are able to acquire loans and other financial assistance from commercial lending institutions; economic resources that aren’t available to low-income and minority residents of the neighborhood to start small businesses. The issue with gentrification is that it’s a tide that doesn’t raise all boats. It furthers a wealth and prosperity divide we have in our country and in our legacy communities.
Rising tide does lift all boats. Jobs bring employees. Neighborhood revitalization. Ok so yea a coffee shop opens. It needs employees. Then it brings in taxi and bus service and Restaurant employees. Contractors to rebuild the other new start ups. These shops don't exist in a vacuum. Restaurants. Clothing stores. About a decade ago people were mad at "rich" people buying yachts. I'm all for it. Someone has to build those yachts. Outfit them. Supply paint and fiberglass and finish products. That's "trickle down" or "supply side" economics. Coffee shops need employees . Building contractors. AND it adds to the city tax rolls too. It's a win/win. It's called economic growth. One nibble at a time.
Downtown Pittsburgh still has a lot of vacant buildings that could be converted to residential but you'd also need basics like grocery stores, etc. The nearby historically black Hill District used to have much more population than it has now where there are more vacant lots where houses once stood. Pittsburgh is still affordable compared to, say, New York, Boston or DC.
I love your matter of fact take on the Gentrification process. You call it like you see it without any bias.....as Joe Friday wouls say...just the facts man.
Racism is not worse than it was 20 years ago. I don't know where that claim is coming from. I hate to say it, but you saying that just axes your credibility, at least in my opinion.
I'm 63. Hippies were young people who didn't want to work, get high and complain about things. (BTW- I'm not a Conservative- just sayin' Hippies were historically/culturally important, but weren't too industrial or do much).
Gentrification keeps pushing me north. The Front Range of Colorado is super gentrified. I moved out of the Boulder area to Fort Collins to escape it. Then out of Fort Collins because it gentrified. My crappy $800/month apartment there is renting at $1800 now. I now live in a house in Cheyenne for less than that apartment.
Kyle, you might consider doing a vid on the changes in Charlotte - it's getting more like Atlanta everyday and rents are getting too high for most people. I'm from Columbus OH and it's happening there too but the number of shootings are making the city a crime magnet like Cleveland.
It's happening in northwest Connecticut in a different way. All the old (beautiful) farmland is turning into housing developments. GIANT houses that all look exactly the same. The most rural part of the state is going from the sticks to a suburb of NYC. It's very sad to see it happening.
Who transformed these once nice neighborhoods into the run-down crime-ridden areas that they are now? Didn't this group run that other group out? In general, they ruin every area that they dominate. That doesn't occur with other groups. I had grew up in Brooklyn in a predominantly white neighborhood. The entire area, including its shops and stores, is now Chinese. The area is well maintained and safe. It's also safe for different ethnic groups to go shopping there without fear of being attacked. What is the difference as to why this group can do this and another the same bad results. The reason is because that group is not as intelligent as other groups. Fifty years from now we'll still be looking for excuses if they haven't destroyed this country.
I don’t know about Chattanooga, but I understand that a lot of the displacement occurs due to rising property taxes, to the point that current residents can’t afford it anymore.
As a Charlestonian I can say that gentrification here is a huge problem. Lots of out of state college students are coming and now developers are creating expensive luxury high rise apartments right beside historically marginalized communities.
Gentrification needs to happen. You need businesses if you want a strong community where people can mesh and meld (like those shops you talk of). We can't isolate all these populations from each other like it's 1864. If you want technology and access to technology to diffuse, you need places like internet cafes for those who cannot afford the utility at home, where populations that don't understand tech can learn it from those who do. You need the Paneras and the Starbucks for places where community members can sit and talk, and feel safe doing so. You need a variety of grocery stores so that you aren't left with just 1 in a food desert and forced to pay their prices for a not-so-great variety of choices (eg. one store by me has an entire aisle devoted to JUST potato chips, whereas a store in another state I lived in had just half an aisle.... what a waste of space that could be used for star fruit, pomegranate, vitamins or something of more nutritional value...).
"Detroit is a dumpster fire, but it is a smaller dumpster fire."
"Baltimore is trying REAL HARD to be the worst city in the country."
Geography King tells it like it is and pulls no punches.
LOL
@Russian bot San Francisco
Russian bot almost all major cities are
And any day now, Baltimore is going to succeed in that effort.
Dying is the only way to get out of Baltimore.
I don’t think racism is worse now than 20 years ago, I just think social media platforms made it easier see all the racism.
@Christian Philippi just dont relax around blacks
Actually it is better it's just the media trying to divide the groups.
@@anthonya2349 it’s not better, it’s just not as obvious and people are being recorded nowadays lol
@@anthonya2349 it isn’t better racism can’t be hidden anymore like it use to bud.
@@TimezOfInfamy If you want to go along with the media lies then I guess you feel it's better to be just another sheep in the herd.
At first I thought that thunder clap was an added effect as a dramatic pause. Even greater that it was real
I thought it was a dumpster fire flair up.
same here ha ha.
I thought the thunder was right on time.
Difference between Hippies and Hipsters- Hippies are pre-gentrification, Hipsters are post-gentrification.
Hipsters are just today's Yuppies (albeit with less $$... lol)! They both define themselves by what they 'consume', though with the Hipsters, "You've probably never heard of it before...".
Funnily enough, "hippie" was originally used in the mid-1960s as a derogatory term for people trying to be hipsters ("They're not proper hipsters, just hippies").
Tie-dye vs. flannel
YAASSSSS!
@@mingonmongo1 Exactly! Yuppies! I’m actually old enough to remember the term too!
I went to Chattanooga in September and it is beautiful.
@@curtbrockhaus6131 huh?
@@curtbrockhaus6131 East Tennessee was full of Union sympathizers if that says anything.
Ironic how you’re all responding to a dude who clearly deleted his comment! I mean, if you’re gonna say something stupid, stand by it!!! Shit!
In Phoenix I witnessed an evil version of gentrification. The city government was buying up homes just south of the trendy downtown area. To “encourage” people to sell (at cheap prices, of course), they did things like redirect airport traffic directly over the neighborhood, provide reduced services, etc. Also, there’s the issue of all your neighbors being turned into empty gravel lots.
The purpose of all this was for the city to eventually sell the land to politically connected developers.
Wow. That is evil
@@foxopossum Yeah, sounds like a lot of big cities, just like here in Columbus! The local politicians make sweet ❤️ deals for developers, then they kick back 💵 to their coffers & also happens in reverse! Rich elites bastard just kept getting richer or more powerfful!
@@Gyalog44 the almighty dollar
Downtown Detroit has seen a big comeback largely due to the financial industry, particularly the family of companies associated with Quicken. They also own large parts of Cleveland and have been driving improvements in both cities to make them more attractive.
Do you happen to live in either city.
Look at Oakland, CA. Things have changed so much in the last 40 years and pushed out many of the people who used to live there. Now the poor have to move out to east county such as Antioch or Stockton.
I’ve seen suburban white girls confidently walk down seminary dude the end is near
@@JacksonJS50Dinky my grandma house right off high st got hella renovated gentrified houses on the block now and it all changed hella quick smh
@SLAMO you don’t make any money if you rent tho
@SLAMO many got ripped off by predatory lenders and lost their family homes. Some people are true POS
@SLAMO wow yeah crazy those people probably never thought about it that way. Maybe they should also just choose to have six figure salaries since it’s so black and white
Denver has an epicenter of this. Marketplace has done a few stories on Sunnyside. Many Latinos have been displaced and they’ve moved out to suburbs. A real disappointment about the turnover in the city is that so much of the old architecture has been bulldozed to make way for unsightly box condos.
Poor white people weren't all forced to be clustered into a neighborhood directly adjacent to downtown. They were allowed to be scattered throughout the suburbs. And when displaced, they can go anywhere. It's not at all the same for all races.
As a Charleston native, I appreciate you mentioning my "city." Many people know it as the Holy City for the steeples that dot the skyline. No building on the peninsula can be taller than the highest church steeple. You mentioned the problem with room on the peninsula. It's a funny thing, really. Because it seems there is room for about three more hotels. I think they are the only ones who can afford that prime real estate.
I could go on and on about how the price of housing has increased in the area, and its reach from the Holy City is now felt in the most rural areas, like Hollywood for example. North Charleston, too (take a look at the increased cost of housing in Park Circle for example). I hate to be one of those people screaming for Northerners to stop moving here, but I can't help it. Wages have always been much lower in the South. For NYC wages, you can get more bang for your buck here in Charleston.
Yet, as more money comes in, the wages in Charleston haven't changed much at all in the past decade. What was once a decent wage here is poverty.
The pace of life was always a bit slower in the Lowcountry. It suited the people who made the Lowcountry what it is. Farmers, blue collar workers, teachers, etc. could afford a nice home, live a nice life. Nohing fancy, just enough. Today, not so much.
Our teachers are all quitting because of large classrooms and meager wages. Salaries haven't adjusted to the crazy cost of housing. Where the hell is all this new money in Charleston going? Sure not the roads because they are exactly the same as they were more than 15 years ago. Definitely not the ghetto schools. Who knows? Probably tourism since we keep winning these damn awards.
Also, keep in mind that history and culture is one of our city's most unique features. The soul food, the Gullah/Geechee culture, small mom n pop shops, family-owned restaurants, etc. If Charleston keeps it up, it will all be gone soon.
I wish more people knew that the beautiful place they know today, was not a byproduct of prospering people. Aside from the few elite. We've always had rich places like Kiawah, the battery, etc. But most of Charleton wasn't rich. At this point, nowhere to grow but the ghettos and back country I suppose. And it's getting expensive. Peoplee ou there charging $30+ for some shrimp and grits with collards... 🤔 That ain't right.
Somebody will probably tell me to leave if it upsets me so much. But it's my home. My family has deep roots here. My grandfather was a farmer, as was his father, etc. My great grandfather couldn't read, and I was the first in my family to earn a college degree. I'm also a writer :,) So, for people like me, it's very heartbreaking. I thought I would come back home to the Lowcountry, buy a nice home, and take care of my parents in old age. In true Southern fashion. If Charleston hadn't gotten "too big for it's own britches," that would have been entirely within reach.
Sorry for the sob story. I love my home, but it isnt the same. It also makes me so sad how few people care about how the new shiny Charleston came to be in the first place. Thank you if you made it to the end of this.
Thanks for the comment. It's nice to hear the perspective from a Charleston native. My wife is from Lexington and from about 1999 to 2015 we went to Charleston about once or twice a year. But then we didn't go back until September 2019. It wasn't just that it had changed, but how quickly. Chattanooga's situation is a little different but it does also seem to be trending toward being a city of tourists and hipsters. Savannah is in the same boat, just not as dramatic as Charleston. However I was glad to see that Dave's Seafood is still a great hole in the wall!
Coffee Eyes well written!!! I understand and felt this whole heartedly
I visited Kiawah this year for summer vacation. While it was nice and I guess "rich", I was expecting downtown Charleston to be kind of like Des Moines, where I live. Where it's kind of popular, but not overwhelmingly enough to drive up costs and create a bunch of traffic (which Charleston has a lot of).
Boy was I wrong, it was so overwhelming. People are flooded everywhere. I expected it to be somewhat packed around the major attractions of Charleston, but not on every street. The current life style doesn't seem to match the city itself. I feel like I would have enjoyed Columbia more, or Hilton Head Island.
Discouraging news around the country for anyone contemplating seeing the USA in my Chevrolet, literally.
From one Charleston native to another thank you for this well thought out and intelligently written comment
the thunder at the 4:53 mark was crazy
It's true that Urban Renewal was called "Negro Removal" but that's because Urban Renewal was usually about razing entire neighborhoods, building urban highways, tearing down rowhouses and apartment buildings and building less housing to replace them with public housing towers. Gentrification and Urban Renewal are pretty different things.
I would say Atlanta's biggest problem, similar to Detroit, is it's land use. Have you ever seen the map Streetsblog made comparing Atlanta to Barcelona? Atlanta apparently has as many miles of rail as Barcelona, but whereas like 80 or 90% of Barcelonans live within a few blocks of a rail line, in Atlanta it's like 1% of the population. Look at all the land taken up by highways and parking in those photos! You could build a lot of nice neighborhoods on that land!
As someone who drove regularly from Detroit to 20 miles south of Atlanta, I can tell you that the County planning FAILED to put MORE freeways around Atlanta. You have leave home 3 hours early to make sure you get to work on time. Did they ever finish construction on the west side of I 285? I grew up in L.A. so I know traffic. But Atlanta is something else…
@@samiam619 then don't work in the city. Not fair to shove black people out of their homes for your convenience cause you dont want to sit in traffic got 3 hours! 🤡
I was born in New York when gentrification really began in the 90s, and Rudy Giuliani “cleaned up” most of Manhattan that was littered with crime in the 70s and 80s. It did great for the city but then it started to spread Brooklyn and New Jersey and everywhere else in and around the city and it became very expensive to live here. Many people I know moved out as everything got too expensive, and I can’t really blame them. I never left though because I love it here, but it does suck having to pay so much rent for a tiny apartment
Also a New Yorker. I think what the "geography king" is missing here is that while the specific act of redeveloping an unoccupied, decaying building may not displace poorer residents, it's really the knock-on effect that displaces them. And that knock-on effect is predictable and therefore can be said to be intentional. This has especially happened in Queens and Brooklyn over the last decade. In Queens it was intentional - the zoning standards were changed so that you could build high rises and Long Island City, being just a few stops from Times Square, was very obviously going to be impacted. More importantly: Who are these redeveloped neighborhoods better for? Are they better for long-time residents who won't shop at the new mocha cafe, can't get a job at the new tech start up in the neighborhood, and can no longer afford their rent, which the landlord is deliberately raising to get them out of there? Clearly not. Sure, you can look at the neighborhood from a bird's eye perspective and say, this looks really nice now, and I - who have never visited this neighborhood - will now do so. But the residents won't say that because they've always lived there. THAT is the problem with gentrification: It favors policies beneficial to non-residents over those that would be beneficial to residents. The people that are supposed to be serving the ones who voted them into office are instead serving their adversaries. And this video is like Exhibit A.
@@babbaganush9659 I couldn’t agree with you more
@@babbaganush9659 As a born and bred New Yorker I mostly agree with you, however NYC doesn't really play into the standard storyline of gentrification. NYC as a whole has changed every couple of decades to the point where each generation would have trouble recognizing its past. Many neighborhoods evolved over the years changing the demographics entirely. Ethnicities have changed, as did income. Before WWII home ownership was unaffordable for the masses even in brooklyn.
Overall I'm not arguing the merits (or the lack thereof) of gentrification, just trying to indicate that NYC is cyclical, thus a poor analogy of the typical national gentrification.
Thank you for the honest take on Detroit. I am from there originally and moved out the beginning of this year.
Growing up there was absolutely horrible and depressing, but literally everyone there gets super defensive about it and lives in this state of cognitive dissonance about it. I have wanted to leave for most of my life, but wasn't sure if it was a "grass is always greener" situation because most other people will defend it saying it's "the best city in the world". Honest commentary helped me gain confidence to leave. Thanks, Geography King.
I recommend the book "Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America" by Allan Mallach. It focuses on economic polarization in US cities -> more wealthy and more poor people with a shrinking middle class - featuring some of the cities in this video with discussions on gentrification and the trends involved in the situation. Overall Mallach argues gentrification is less negative than the media portrays and that the real issue is the DECLINE of most neighborhoods -> many of the factors involved are unfortunately out of a city's control and are often intentionally worsened by our politicians.
Again, another great video to watch a few more times.
I was so happy to hear about the rebirth of Detroit, a city that has had such a bad rep for years. And renovating old factories and vacant building is genius - and nobody gets displaced, to boot!
The same for Pittsburgh, which was known for steel and horrendous pollution.
Now the city is a centerpiece for the 3 river confluence...a place I want to visit...(plus its only about an hour from Gobblers Notch, home to world famous Punksutawney Phil - life doesn't get much better than that)!
Thank you , Kyle!
House prices seem kind of insane. Here in Louisiana homes are still affordable.
Yeah, but you're in Louisiana.
Try coming to Canada - house prices are just stupid in Ontario and British Columbia
@@andrewmccoll1582 and there in lies the problem. Terrible leadership that doesn't plan for good expansion and light rail or high speed mag-lev for transportation across large metro areas. You can't allow shit to get so expensive that people have to commute an hour one way just to get to their workplace and not give the heavily taxed population a fast and effective way of transportation.
@@paulonparole791
They used to talk that way about Brooklyn.
it's happing all over Austin TX
And it's lowering crime around the city
wut the heck how is ur name Joe, u r the only person on the site with that name
how long have u been on youtube?
Been happening since the 80's. Most people are stunned when I tell them that South Congress Ave just south of Downtown was once a center of drugs and prostitution (the motel that is now Hotel San Jose used to be a rent by the hour place).
@@jsheav Nope
I'd like to preface this comment by saying I'm not a hipster.
Hipsters, and others similar, circulate their money instead of stashing it away. They're often ethical consumers, and frequent local rather than chain stores and outlets. They're the ones who'll cycle to work instead of driving, support local arts, and get involved with "causes". I rather appreciate that someone's making an effort.
I am somewhat of a hipster, and while agree, it can be a bit facadist, people wanting a 'black' friend, but not too 'ghetto-y'. Sometimes, civic activism can run into nimbyism.
The only thing that the rise and fall of CHAZ/CHOP in Seattle has taught me, it's that I really hate hipsters.
@@Blakezilla594 humans are gonna human, whether they are hipsters, boomers, vegans or conservatives. All like to pretend they are better than others, all can be terrible hypocrites, and all can be guilty of all the vices they attribute to 'the others'.
I loved the video. I'm glad that you talked about a wide variety of cities. Gentrification truly is a mixed bag. I used to the in the DC area where gentrification has gotten completely out of control and actually made certain neighborhoods less interesting as only chain businesses can afford to the rent. Now I live in Norfolk, VA where gentrification has started about 20 years ago and is moving much slower. I stayed at an Air Bnb on Cannon Street in Charlestown and what struck me about the area north of Spring Street is that it still looks pretty shabby. All they did was raise the rents. There are some trendy restaurants and bars but there are still plenty of empty storefronts on King Street. Is this the yuppie ghetto?
Charleston certainly hasn't improved by the same amount the costs have gone up. It's pretty much the same, just twice as expensive. I'm not as familiar with DC but I've heard others echo what you're saying.
Kyle. Good video. I have lived in metro Detroit for about 30 years now, and visited the city often while growing up in mid Michigan in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s. When I moved there for good, I liked to hang out downtown. You could have a good time there, but had to know where to go and where to avoid. After the new baseball and football stadiums were built in the northeast corner of downtown right across Brush St from each other, things started to move forward at a slow but steady pace. That part of downtown had nothing there except the Detroit School of Law, which is now part of Michigan State University in East Lansing. But that area started to populate with restaurants and bars. Within 10 years or so. That would put us in the late 2000’s, that corner of downtown had become pretty lively. Then during the next ten years the prosperity spread out to Woodward Avenue and the boarded up storefronts that had been a part of the main drag of Detroit since the early 70’s just disappeared. There was a small business for virtually every storefront on Woodward from Jefferson Ave to Grand Blvd. Then in the last couple of years the “ rectangle” created by East Grand Blvd and West Grand Blvd , has seen many neighborhoods within this oldest part of the city improve and the values go up. While this renewal is as you say, not huge compared to other cities, for Detroit after decades of decay it is a big deal. The city center has improved greatly. However many of the neighborhoods outside this rectangle area remain pretty rough. I enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the comment. It has definitely been a slow improvement but as someone that has visited almost every year since 1998 it's nice to see that it isn't as awful as it was 20 year ago. There's still a ways to go but it does look encouraging.
I so agree with you. Charleston used to be my favorite city. Now, when I think about going there all I have to do to squash that idea is think about the traffic and how a city that used to have something for everyone is now full of people rushing to get across town or frustrated because of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on I-26. The every man's city has now become the upscale city and I'm not so fond of it anymore. We've seen changes here in Columbia also. I know you went to USC but to us locals USC has been both a blessing and a pain. Downtown is dominated by USC - a new baseball stadium by the river, the Vista area has joined 5 points as a place for students to party, student housing has exploded and they've taken over the Olympia area for student housing. Rosewood has held it's on but seems to be losing ground. USC has beautified these areas but prices have gone through the roof in all areas and like you say - income has not. I live across the river near Lexington and am watching USC's land grab as I see it, as it progresses (with taxpayer money) my way. They have now gone into the commercial/investment property area as a way to make more money to buy and build more things. My children can't and probably never will be able to afford to live in my neighborhood and it's not some gated upscale area - far from it. I'm just waiting for the prices to go even higher or the time is right for a move and then I'll sell and move permanently to our new farm which for now is country but I fear will end up on the outskirts of where Columbia is moving - out toward Aiken County. I'm thinking our growth is like you describe Atlanta - not really doing much to improve things just moving "regular folks" out to make room for wealthier folks. Say, have you done a video on how the culture of areas change as people with different values and interests move in and change things? Less local influence, more national chains and losing the historical ways/customs of an area. Maybe that's to much for a video but if you ever write a book, I'd buy it! ~Sherrie in South Carolina
The last time I was in Columbia I was surprised that so many of what were bars and restaurants in 5 Points were now stores and how much more student-oriented the Vista was. I lived in Shandon while there but I doubt we could afford the same place now. It's a pretty similar story nationwide but Charleston is definitely one of the worst.
@Thomas Willoughby I have no intention of moving anywhere. I realize change happens or you get left behind. I also know a sadness that the small town southern uniqueness I grew up with is slowly going away. How to find a middle ground I haven't found. All I'm saying is that moving forward, does it have to mean leaving behind what made your city unique and attractive to investors to start with? Will one day all of our cities in all of our states look and "feel" just alike? I hope not.
I grew up in San Francisco. You left out how during the tech boom, developers bought up all the old factories, closed them down throwing 10s of thousands of families out in the street and replaced them with multi-million dollar condos. All those high paying union jobs are gone now, replaced with minimum wage jobs at starbucks...
He also left out how leftists have declared shoplifting to be legal in San Francisco, essentially asking businesses to close and leave, taking those jobs with them.
So, you're blaming condo developers for shutting down old factories? No - the unions themselves demanded such high wages that they priced American goods in excess of foreign manufacturers. THAT's why the factories shut down. Don't believe me? Look at every city in the rust belt. I don't see any high priced condos in Detroit, Pittsburgh or Cleveland.
@@kennethneal8480 why do you think unions were asking for high wages....?
It's about class. I'm white. I grew up in what was then a lower-middle class part of Boston. In 1975, my mother sold our 2 family for $36k. Recently, a 2 family on the same street was listed at $1.1 million. If you took $1m off the price, it would still be 3X what my mother sold hers for. Starting in the 1980s, my own city was never affordable, due to me making a mere middle class salary. Yet this is exactly what used to afford you an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood. No more.
Great video, Kyle! Appreciate the time and effort you put into videos like this. I didn't realize Atlanta homes 1,250 sq ft. and smaller were $600,000 plus NO THANKS lol
Not everywhere in Atlanta is that expensive. You can still get a pretty nice house in the suburbs for $300,000 but closer to town will cost you over $400,000 and a lot more for historic areas, wealthy neighborhoods, and downtown condos.
If you think that's bad try living in the Greater Toronto Area. Even townhouses and bungalows sell for close to $1 million here these days.
I hear you about San Francisco. The Tenderloin seems to be the same as it was 32 years ago except rent went up and every parking lot has been converted to 10 to 12 story high condo's. I was paying $480 a month for a studio apartment that now rents for $ 3,012 a month. Along with Google we have Twitter HQ at mid Market street from 9th to 10th street.
And the city still smells like pee.
It seems like there could be a positive net sum solution. In many of these cities, there are building restrictions, which drive up the price. People need to decide if they like affordable housing or a nice view of the ocean.
Being Canadian, we do our frequent "travelling" in the US, and I've been fortunate to visit every city on your list. I've definitely seen the improvements in many of them over the years. The only one I haven't spent much time in is your current hometown, but we are frequently in Tennessee both as a destination (Pigeon Forge/Smoky Mountains) and as a pass through on our way to Florida in the winter. On our next trip down I-75 we will have to make a stop for a day in Chattanooga, the pictures look very nice (last time we stopped in Atlanta for a day to check out the Coca Cola museum, I think that area looked "gentrified" as I think it was the former Olympic village). Detroit still has a lot of work cut out for it as you said, but for the first time, I actually stopped in Greektown to check it out. Normally we would lock our doors, don't stop, and drive on through to elsewhere. I never saw Pittsburgh before it gentrified, but I have to say, if I could pick a city to live in in the US, it would be at or near the top of my list. I like the character of the downtown, and even the suburbs look nice with the hilly topography, and I always feel safe. We are often in Pittsburgh since it is only a 5-6 hour drive from where we live. Just waiting for the borders to open back up so we can get back to exploring your fantastic country!
If you want to check out a cool restaurant "suck creek cafe" just outside of town has and interesting local seafood theme.
Have you ever spent much time in North Carolina? Specifically, Charlotte and Raleigh.
@@micah_lee I've been to Charlotte a few times, but very briefly. I was debating visiting for a week last year but we ended up not going because of the pandemic. I hear there is a pretty good science center for the kids and I've always wanted to visit Carowinds as it is a sister park of Canada's Wonderland in Toronto. Both were owned by Paramount, now both are owned by Cedar Fair, they have some identical roller coasters so it would be kind of neat to experience the same thing in a completely different place.
@@jeffsansome90 I remember going to the Discovery Place as a kid, that was always such a great experience! And Carowinds is great too.
Next time you’re passing through, and after this Covid situation is hopefully past us, be sure and stop by our Visitors Center near the aquarium, we’ll be glad to show you all about our nice little city!
You mentioned that Atlanta has always had a vibrant downtown. I'm not sure that's accurate. For years it would be a ghost town after the 9-5 office workers left for the day. It has become a little more vibrant, but nothing like Midtown or Buckhead.
Mad Respect for shouting out Charleston, SC. Its a HUGEEEEEE problem there!
In general Gentrification brings wealth to the poorer areas because it raises property prices. It does gradually push out the poor but if they were homeowners when values went up they could sell for more money and buy in cheaper areas, or stay.
Just an add it also brings new services or improved services, and reduces crime.
Not true. Investors are usually considered "robbers" for the extremely underpriced offers they make. That's not wealth. If you sell your home for say 50k, you now need to use that for a down payment, or will get an apartment or something and just spend the money. Where is the wealth being built besides for the investor that already has it?
@@elreytriton The wealth is built when you sell at a profit or hold while your net worth goes up.
The whole game of real estate is to buy where the values are rising, so your home becomes an investment.
The notion of investors being robbers is untrue. Selling agents make money on commission, so they typically try to get the highest sale price for their clients. Anyone selling below market value is not playing the game properly.
@@Da_Benski Investors arent going to realtors. Poor ppl arent going to realtors. Real investors get their RE license and are therefore realtors already. Investors are using programs to slam the poor with mail and calls to get them to take lowball offers. No realtors are involved. They make their own contracts and get the seller to use a quitclaim deed. Entire parts of certain cities have been changed with this method. For the last decade i've seen these guys selling their programs for it. I know flippers. I literally just let my RE license expire during covid because i changed cities. they're trying to get those houses asap. They dont want to pay commission nor get appraisals
@@elreytriton Dude, stop it with the BlueAnon conspiracy theories.
A real estate sale involves a Seller, Buyer, and agents/lawyers for both the seller and buyer.
The seller's agent and lawyer aren't going to allow their client to sell their home for a pittance, so please stop scaremongering people.
You don't know what you're talking about, so have a coke and a smile and stop embarrassing yourself.
@@Da_Benski clearly you're the noob here. Every state does NOT require lawyers for transactions. Only 21 out of 50 do. You've already lost this. I'll just delete the paragraph i had proving you even more wrong. You dont even know how things work outside of your one state or youtube video you watched.
Terrific outlook about the two major forms of Gentrification!
"Nerdy" and "geography" are two words that fit my geek-dom of interests. =D
Great video, I love how you explain the video very fairly and balanced
This same thing has been happening in Cleveland, and I'd say that its been a very positive thing. A lot of the West Side and especially the flats have been transformed from poor, dangerous urban ghetto to nice neighborhoods to walk around in.
Way better than when I grew up in the 70s/80s. Going downtown was scary.
Totally agree, transformation of Cleveland is amazing, old buildings with good bones are now condos, restaurants and bars.
Where did they move these poor people too? Cause they aren't there anymore! 🤡
@@bigbillybadass Because some of these neighborhoods were so bad there were not many residences left. Cleveland lost about 60% of its population between 1960 and 2000. Downtown was almost completely empty of residences. Down town redevelopment is almost entirely new construction or office conversions. And while there are quite a few new expensive buildings, in general rents are very affordable compared to most cities. I'm really impressed by the transformation in the last 20 years. However there are still many areas of the city that are very poor with high crime rates and many abandoned buildings and empty lots. And the city is one of the most racially segregated in the country which makes improving the general condition more difficult than it should be.
This has been very helpful for my podcast about the future. Thanks for making!
Thanks for the education on gentrification. Also the pictures of your town of Chattanooga are nice btw.
Thank you!
thought the lightning was an editing joke to make fun of hipsters at first
Great video! Ive been in Baltimore since 2014. I definitely have a lot of love for the city. What strikes me is that a lot of the growth is happening in Harbor East/Fells, Canton, Fed Hill/Locust Point, basically seems like they gave up on the downtown and want to start a new "gentrified" cultural downtown elsewhere. Surrounding Baltimore and Howard Counties have some of the most affluent zip codes in America. There's a lot of money to be made, just many live outside. The people who do live here are young professionals or those affiliated with Maryland and Johns Hopkins. I think the history of red lining and the unique Baltimore City/County structure have made it difficult for people to develop and to subsequently get money for these communities. The segregation is pretty stark. It's worth looking into the black butterfly and white L and it's history. North Baltimore and Roland park into Towson feels nothing like "The Wire" east and west side Baltimore.
I remember those two crazy bridges over the Ashley and Cooper rivers in Charleston. Sad to see that they've been replaced...
you have made me interested in something that I had no idea I was interested in. Thanks.
It's a two edged sword. I've personally benefited from gentrification by buying homes in areas that I thought were undervalued. I looked for zip codes with low property values that are adjacent to hip zip codes. I buy a house, fox it up and a few years later. There is risk involved. I almost lost everything after the 2008 crash, but hung on until the market recovered, made enough money from that last sale to pay cash for a nice condo. The problem is that people who are renters get displaced when the property values go up, and the rents follow. But there are always deals out there if you know where to look and can put in the sweat equity. I have come to realize that owning a home is probably cheaper in the long run than paying rent. But the goal should be to have your mortgage paid off. Once you own it free and clear, it's liberating financially.
Excellent video again. Interesting and thought-provoking, and well researched and presented. An excellent example of how TH-cam can be very useful.
This guy is based and not afraid to say it like it was. Luv it.
Lived in Charleston (James Island) for 6-7 years in the mid-2000's till late 2012 and witnessed the change firsthand. Definitely catering to the higher-end now and I think losing a bit of the old authentic Charleston in exchange for an expensive caricature of itself.
Odd thing about California is that we really don't have any slums. We do have poor and very poor areas but no slums.
I remember seeing my first slum in Chicago taking the L out to Oak Park. We passed over the slums west of Chicago. Burned out buildings. Homes with broken window and doors. I remember the slums just north of downtown Cincinnati. Abandoned buildings. Homes and small storefronts with broken doors and windows, trash everywhere.
While California does have poor areas and very poor areas, the chronic housing problem for the last 50-100 years means that all property in both the LA and the SF metro areas is kept up to a minimally habitable condition so it can be rented. In the greater metro areas I suspect there is almost no property on the rolls that can be purchased by paying the back taxes. I think this type of no owner property is a key ingredient in a slum.
California hoods are being gentrified right now, like la hoods
he didnt get into the history here which is very important. California did not have massive government housing projects like the east coast and midwest.
You're Vids are very relaxing to watch.
Brb, sippin my mochafrappalatte! *puts pinkie in air*
It's going on in Buffalo NY, and the concern there is the builders/developers are not local, so a good amount of the profits are not staying local.
Really glad that you addressed Wage Stagnation and how it's affecting the US. It's a huge problem everywhere you go. Either you move to the city where half of your income goes to rent, or you move to the sticks where no jobs are. Really hoping that Work From Home will be the new thing to do and it will stay, opens up a ton of opportunities not only for Middle Class Americans looking to buy a house in an affordable town, but for cities that have really decayed in the recent decades since the collapse of American Manufacturing to start attracting new people to come in and revitalize the city with new young people.
This is one of the best youtube videos ive ever seen. I wish u worked in govt in some capacity, you are more knowledgeable than the current HUD secretary.
What a great video!! I live in chattanooga so it was nice to hear about it
Often neglected is when previously middle class areas become prohibitively expensive. This has happened all over the US, esp every community in coastal California. Homes that were $25K in the 1970’s are $2 million dollars, or more. Middle class people, regardless of their race, being replaced by the uber wealthy.
Love your videos man!
very informative. I really enjoyed this video
It’s happening in my hometown of Huntsville, AL and Houston.
You're right about Huntsville. The growth of Redstone, NASA, UAL and the Feds have recently catapulted Huntsville to the most populous city in Alabama, overtaking Bham.
I lived in Huntsville from 2017-2018. Huntsville is an odd case, because it seems to be gentrifying "inward" toward downtown. The only exception I think would be the areas north of downtown, close to Alabama A&M, where the gentrification has happened outward, so to speak. What's it like in the city now? It seemed like the city was doing a good job of not displacing too many poor folks, but I'm afraid its inevitable down the road.
@@jarodsparacio851 Huntsville is still alright.
Maybe I'm a bit biased because I grew up there in the 80s and 90s, but Baltimore has improved a 1000 %
In Columbia SC where I live there's been significant gentrification in the center of downtown and the ghetto areas just east of the broad river. It's a small city so there isn't as much displacement in these areas and the most of the poorer areas still remain in the outskirts of the city (mainly in the western part of the city with the airport and the northeastern part of the city.)
As for Charleston, James Island is a river island and really isn't close to the beach at all. I visited there to see a family member and the lack of a beach shocked me.
Very interesting and informative. You nailed that one!
4:53 I literally thought you added that in for dramatic affect at first 😂
Charleston does have one feature that makes its gentrification work a bit better - they limit the rise in property taxes so that old homeowners aren't taxed out of their homes.
As a Charleston native who spends lots of time in Atlanta and Chattanooga I think gentrification is a good thing overall as it reduces crime and makes the city a lot better
no
From your talking about going “up” to Frisco (I know they hate that name!) I figure you for growing up in L.A. I was raised in Torrance. Now I’m in the forrest of n. Lower Michigan. Spent a lot of time picking up new Auto Parts from Warehouses around Detroit to take to warehouses in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Denver wherever mostly Chrysler and Ford needed parts. Very familiar with the wasteland of Warren Mi and 8 mile.
I paid $145,000 for my house 2 blocks from a metro station in Washington DC in 2016 , I’ve been offered $285,000 in 2019 . I don’t want to move , but my taxes keep going up !
I can't offer any advice, but the same thing is happening here in Charleston. I just wanted to say I feel for you. Sending prayers your way.
Coffee Eyes thank you 😊
Rent it out
It still definitely displaced people especially in LA
5:24 That "Outsource to Detroit" billboard pretty much says it all.
After watching 10 or so of your videos, I am ready for Jeopardy🙂 Thanks for the content! Was just in Savannah, GA. Talk about gentrifying. Some of the real estate is reedickulous🙂
What a great video!
Thanks!
I use Worcester MA's Main South region as an example of gentrification done right. The city and Clark University worked WITH the residents to make things safer which raised home prices and brought people in automatically without displacement.
Hey Kyle did you mean to say that racism is worse today than 20 years ago or did I misunderstand you? I don't see how that can be true. Good video as always though.
I’ve been liking these videos but was definitely caught off guard by his comment about racism being worse than 20 years ago. I hope it was just a mistake because this is an absolutely insane statement. Just look at interracial marriage statistics for example. It went from like 5% in the 80’s to almost 20% today. Unfortunately there will always be racism to some degree from ignorant people but to say it’s worse today than in the past is a horrible take.
I live in a city in Texas south of Fort Worth about 30-35 mins. The city has a population at about 47,000 and our down town has gone through this too. And I see no problem with it, it’s cleaning up otherwise old and rundown areas and it’s really smart IMO👍🏼👍🏼🤷🏼♂️
Thank you so much for your level headed explanation, Kyle!
it's the way cities evolve
He lost me when he said racism today is worse than 20 years ago
As a former San Francisco resident who now lives in the East Bay, I can 100% confirm that San Francisco’s gentrification has 100% NOT made it a better city. It’s cultural identity has been stripped as artists of all types have made The inevitable exodus. Bookstores and music venues have been bulldozed to construct massive sterile condos. Long time residents, local businesses, and restaurants have absolutely no chance of being able to afford the astronomical costs of living and have been leaving/closing at a depressing rate. A delicious fat burrito for $4 is no longer a reasonable expectation (even in the mission district) - but hey if you want $15 organic avocado toast and $10 free trade asparagus flavored Coffee then you’re in the right town.
But now with the pandemic in full swing, the tech-types are being told they can work from home permanently, and are fleeing to less expensive areas where they can still make their Silicon Valley wages. As a result all of these massive condo complexes that have been constructed in the last 10+ years are starting to go vacant - and a large portion of the new ones are struggling to get any first time residents at all.
Give it 10 years, and San Francisco will be the new Detroit.
Really, after buying a Detroit home for $50k and put $50k into it, it’s value will still be $50k or less (probably less). I saw on Zillow a enormous Detroit home that at one time sold for $1.2 million. Now it has been on the market for 3.5 years asking price $275k. Zillow’s listing said the house will annually decrease in value by 2.5%.
Another problem with living in Detroit are your insurance rates. They’re super high! And also city services suck.
Overall, an outstanding video and excellent analysis as always. Like many others, I initially questioned the racism is worse today than it was 20 years ago remark, which was not the primary focus of the video. When we drill down further, perhaps it is not out of line. After the first black president was reelected to a second term in 2012, the people who routinely denounce America as a racist nation and in some cases make a living off doing just that had a problem- so they had to go looking for it in places that it either didn't exist and invent it or blow small minor incidents out of proportion. I would argue that in 2013 is when things started to go downhill. The four groups of people that have stirred the pot of racial animosity to a dangerous level for their own benefit are 1) politicians (big surprise), 2) professors, 3) pundits on television and in print media, 4) performers (athletes, actors, musicians) who are basically doing the dirty work of the first three groups. The 4 P's.
Hello there I have been watching some of your videos these last few days since I discovered your channel... amazing and cool videos... I dont know if you have already made a video about what I am going to ask you. Are there any up and coming cities or towns that you suspect will begin to take off soon. I am looking to move from central New Jersey within the next few years... I am interested in middle class housing with nice weather... I am completely done with cold and snowy winters. Where I live I am paying 16k in property taxes... and no it is not a mansion, it is on a small plot of land. Thanks please let me know it you can think of a few cities. I was thinking like fort Lauderdale or west palm beach.. but hopefully you can send me some better and more affordable ideas.
I learned a lot.
You are thoughtful and unbiased, and there is no room for such nuance in today’s USA
Everyone has a bias and even he does a tiny bit, but I like how he tries to not be biased :)
i was a bit concerned while watching this video that you'd say something close-minded or disagreeable. I was positively surprised. Really good job explaining this and taking a look at it from both sides.
Kyle, as a fellow geographer, I’ve always appreciated your videos and highly regarded the research and detail you put into them. However, this one misses the mark. Badly. Several key concepts and aspects of gentrification are misconstrued, and the central thesis of your video that “gentrification is only bad when it displaces people” is very problematic and reductionist. Your Charleston and Detroit examples should have illuminated a vital concern with the phenomenon of gentrification: low-income (largely minority) populations are priced out of certain locations and are economically relegated to environmental justice areas with very poor access to jobs, public transit, and other key services.
Moreover, to point to hipsters as the ones opening mocha latte shops, you’re missing a major element: these people are predominantly white entrepreneurs who are able to acquire loans and other financial assistance from commercial lending institutions; economic resources that aren’t available to low-income and minority residents of the neighborhood to start small businesses.
The issue with gentrification is that it’s a tide that doesn’t raise all boats. It furthers a wealth and prosperity divide we have in our country and in our legacy communities.
Rising tide does lift all boats. Jobs bring employees. Neighborhood revitalization. Ok so yea a coffee shop opens. It needs employees. Then it brings in taxi and bus service and Restaurant employees. Contractors to rebuild the other new start ups. These shops don't exist in a vacuum. Restaurants. Clothing stores. About a decade ago people were mad at "rich" people buying yachts. I'm all for it. Someone has to build those yachts. Outfit them. Supply paint and fiberglass and finish products. That's "trickle down" or "supply side" economics. Coffee shops need employees . Building contractors. AND it adds to the city tax rolls too. It's a win/win. It's called economic growth. One nibble at a time.
Downtown Pittsburgh still has a lot of vacant buildings that could be converted to residential but you'd also need basics like grocery stores, etc. The nearby historically black Hill District used to have much more population than it has now where there are more vacant lots where houses once stood. Pittsburgh is still affordable compared to, say, New York, Boston or DC.
The Southside of Chattanooga was my favorite area when i was there :(
I love your matter of fact take on the Gentrification process. You call it like you see it without any bias.....as Joe Friday wouls say...just the facts man.
You are a logical breath of fresh air. I always find myself in agreement with your points... even in the NorCal/SoCal one! ;)
Racism is not worse than it was 20 years ago. I don't know where that claim is coming from. I hate to say it, but you saying that just axes your credibility, at least in my opinion.
Glad you said it
I'm 63.
Hippies were young people who didn't want to work, get high and complain about things. (BTW- I'm not a Conservative- just sayin' Hippies were historically/culturally important, but weren't too industrial or do much).
Gentrification keeps pushing me north. The Front Range of Colorado is super gentrified. I moved out of the Boulder area to Fort Collins to escape it. Then out of Fort Collins because it gentrified. My crappy $800/month apartment there is renting at $1800 now. I now live in a house in Cheyenne for less than that apartment.
Pittsburgh... “Let’s just build four new stadiums and we’ll be on top again”. We have improved a lot but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Then they'll wax nostalgic for those old ones they wanted gone.
Kyle, you might consider doing a vid on the changes in Charlotte - it's getting more like Atlanta everyday and rents are getting too high for most people. I'm from Columbus OH and it's happening there too but the number of shootings are making the city a crime magnet like Cleveland.
It's happening in northwest Connecticut in a different way. All the old (beautiful) farmland is turning into housing developments. GIANT houses that all look exactly the same. The most rural part of the state is going from the sticks to a suburb of NYC. It's very sad to see it happening.
What data do you have to suggest racism is worse now vs 20 years ago?
Who transformed these once nice neighborhoods into the run-down crime-ridden areas that they are now? Didn't this group run that other group out? In general, they ruin every area that they dominate. That doesn't occur with other groups. I had grew up in Brooklyn in a predominantly white neighborhood. The entire area, including its shops and stores, is now Chinese. The area is well maintained and safe. It's also safe for different ethnic groups to go shopping there without fear of being attacked. What is the difference as to why this group can do this and another the same bad results. The reason is because that group is not as intelligent as other groups. Fifty years from now we'll still be looking for excuses if they haven't destroyed this country.
Fantastic info!
OH good, subtitles are back. Helps us deaf coots.
I don’t know about Chattanooga, but I understand that a lot of the displacement occurs due to rising property taxes, to the point that current residents can’t afford it anymore.
As a Charlestonian I can say that gentrification here is a huge problem. Lots of out of state college students are coming and now developers are creating expensive luxury high rise apartments right beside historically marginalized communities.
Gentrification needs to happen. You need businesses if you want a strong community where people can mesh and meld (like those shops you talk of). We can't isolate all these populations from each other like it's 1864. If you want technology and access to technology to diffuse, you need places like internet cafes for those who cannot afford the utility at home, where populations that don't understand tech can learn it from those who do. You need the Paneras and the Starbucks for places where community members can sit and talk, and feel safe doing so. You need a variety of grocery stores so that you aren't left with just 1 in a food desert and forced to pay their prices for a not-so-great variety of choices (eg. one store by me has an entire aisle devoted to JUST potato chips, whereas a store in another state I lived in had just half an aisle.... what a waste of space that could be used for star fruit, pomegranate, vitamins or something of more nutritional value...).